After
by DigiConjurer
Summary: It said that all good things must eventually come to an end. For many, they had thought that would be the case for their adventures. But now, the call must be answered once more.
1. Episode 1: The Calling Sirens

I don't own digimon.

* * *

After

Episode 1

The Calling Sirens

It began again at dawn on a nice Thursday morning.

In a small two bedroom apartment, life was about to take an interesting turn one more for Derek Willison.

"Ugh…" Derek thought and shifted himself up in his bed. "Well, time to start another day."

With that, he got himself dressed. Today's outfit was quite simple, just a white t-shirt with a pair of clean pants. A silver necklace with a large oval pendant hung around his neck, serving as a reminder of a time long gone now. It also complimented his blackish brown hair and emerald eyes.

Now dressed, our 'hero' made his way towards the doorway, just making out a long shadow against the far wall.

"Rora?" he whispered and took a step forward, watching the shadow seemingly disappear just as quickly as it appeared. "It was probably just my imagination."

Derek walked over to his kitchen, making one final glance towards the wall in the process. Afterwards, he pulled his necklace up towards the light.

"Those were the days."

To some extent, Derek still yearned for those days of thrill and adventure. Where all you needed was a couple of snacks, a half coherent plan from a Vietnam Vet, your partner and some friends to take on the Bot Empire.

For a few brief seconds, gray energy surged around his hands, giving the chosen a familiar yet distant feeling. Once it had faded away, he made himself breakfast. In this case, a bowl of cereal and a glass orange juice. The chosen gulped it all down in a hurry, grabbing his briefcase as he headed out the door.

Outside, the hallway wasn't that interesting. It had the typical yellowish brown walls that made up the 'front' of all these abodes. A gray carpet connected the two sides, having waited for it's better days for so long. Not that Derek gave much attention to it, until something caught his eye.

It was a plush, made to look like one of those black cat plush things. It looked to have seen better days, with one of its eyes missing and it looked like it had been in the wild for an extended amount of time in the wild, judging by the missing left arm. Finally, a pair of purple straps had been attached to the back, allowing one to carry it on their back.

"Impossible…" he thought and carefully scooped the stuffed animal up, putting it into his briefcase. "I guess I'll need to stop by the craft store and grab some supplies."

The chosen made a mental note in his head and headed towards the stairs. He made quick work of this obstacle, stepping into the boring lobby. Like the hallway before it, it wasn't that interesting. It looked like something you would see at a hotel, minus the complimentary breakfast dining room. Though, a small cafe had taken up that residence quite nicely. Not that Derek was much a coffee person to begin with, preferring juice and the occasional sugary drink. He quickly made his way outside and sat himself down at a nearby bench with a sign by it.

It didn't take long for the bus to arrive, picking Derek up and dropping him off at a towering structure of stone and iron.

"No time like the present." he thought and headed inside. What followed, was a ride on an elevator and a brisk walk to his desk. There, he would spend the next seven to eight hours making sure the numbers and sales were in the 'black'. If they wasn't, he would have to get his boss and their would be a meeting.

Today, it was the latter.

"Just another day in paradise." Derek thought and turned his computer on. "What will be this time?"

A few seconds passed, the black screen still there. The chosen watched on, still seeing no change within the monitor. By the minute mark, he was debating just unplugging the device and plugging it back in. Though, that would mean having to take apart his entire workstation, unplug the cord from the power strip, plug said cord back and reassemble his desk. Just in time for him to maybe get logged in and just get started looking at the most recent data.

But before he could do any of that, white blocky letters formed upon the screen.

WOULD YOU LIKE A SECOND ADVENTURE?

YES OR NO

Derek just stared at the computer, unsure of how to respond to this monkey wrench in his day. So he did the natural thing one does in that situation.

He clicked 'Yes', watching the letters shift about and rearrange about.

YOW KNOW WHAT TO DO, DEREK WILLISON

Derek pulled his necklace off and pulled the pendant open. Inside was a familiar clamshell-shaped device on the left and a photo on the right. He was twelve when it was taken, currently cuddling with a light blue humanoid creature. A layer of periwinkle permafrost covered the eyes of the creature, rendering it effectively blind. A pair of slits marked the nose, possibly even more effective than his. Long arms had curled around his body, wrapping him in a hug while still hiding the long sharp nails on his partner's hands.

"It won't be too long, Rora." Derek thought and watched the screen of the computer revert back to the usual windows 7 login screen just about everything business-related still uses nowadays. He typed his credentials in and watched the login fade away. All that remained was the sky blue background and the white logging in message. Though, the last time he had checked, it didn't go one letter at a time. "Wonderful."

The chosen took a deep breath, closing the necklace pendant and hanging it back around his neck.

"It's been too long, buzz." a voice announced and Derek turned around, finding a figure standing before him. From a distance, they probably look like a regular person going about their day. But up close, there was always something wrong about them. Always the proportions would be off and/or some particular feature would be missing for some reason.

In this particular case, this 'thing' was cursed with t-rex length arms and no right middle finger for some reason.

"Let me guess." Derek whispered as he grabbed hold of his chair, more than ready to defend himself. "You want revenge for the demise of your leader."  
His opponent did not answer, choosing instead to just rip the chair out of Derek's hands and fling it towards him. The chosen chose to duck, allowing the object to just barely graze him. He gave the intruder a swift kick in the privates and made his escape. While he hadn't intended to take this particular day off, the current string of events demanded it. Though, he would call his boss and give an 'explanation' for the broken chair and his sudden departure.

"I'm coming, Rora." he whispered and made a beeline away from the office, focusing on a far-off playground. "I won't be long."

.

Rora took a deep breath.

So far, her day had been kind of a mess. The lioramon had managed to bumbled her way all about the town, somehow managing to drop her plush in the process.

"Play with us! Play with us!" a child announced as part of her tail got lifted up and swung around. Had she been able to see what was going on, maybe she would have scolded them. But alas, this was not the case.

"Maybe some other time." the frost naga remarked and headed forth, not at all noticing the disappointed kids. No, she was more focused on sniffing the air, having noticed a particular smell in the air. It had a sense of familiarity amid it, as if she knew it from the first whiff alone.

"Rora?" a voice called out, with Rora focusing her head in the general direction of the sound. Though, this meant having to work around a couple of shrubs and concrete walls. "There you are!"

For a few brief seconds, time seemed to slow down as the two reached each other and embraced in a hug.

"It's been too long." Derek whispered and released his digimon partner. "How have you been?"

Rora didn't answered, choosing instead to squeeze even tighter around her human. In a way, this was the best way to describe how she felt now.

"You can let go of me now."

Reluctantly, she followed her master's orders. After, he handed over the ruined plush.

"Do you think you can fix it?" Rora inquired, only for Derek to not answer.

"I see that I'm not the only one to get someone back, recon." a voice announced and the duo turned around, giving the figure a salute.

* * *

Notes:

Well, this is going to be interesting. Feel free to speculate and ask questions down in the review box. Also, please review. It really does help.

Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this.

.

Next time: A trip to the fabric store with a Vietnam veteran.


	2. Episode 2: Calm before the storm

I don't own digimon.

* * *

Episode 2

Calm before the storm

The person in question was an elderly man, possibly in his mid to late sixties. He was dressed in a forest green military top with the front pockets and a pair of matching military pants. A US Army tag hung over the heart with a pumpkin shaped badge stitched onto the left pocket. Finishing off the look, was a head of whitish grey hair and a pair of slightly faded brown eyes.

"It's good to see you, Uncle Sam." Derek remarked and saluted the man, staring right into the man's blue eyes. "I mean, sir."

'Uncle Sam' only laughed, cracking a wide smile as a short boy walked up. Unlike Sam though, he was dressed in a lavender trenchcoat and combat boots. A hunting rifle hung on his back, going with his lavender military cap and sand blonde hair. Finishing off the look was a pair of hazel eyes and kind of blank expression on his face.

"Oh, it's you people." the digimon announced and brought forth a briefcase, handing it to Derek. "Sam has asked to give you people these new toys."

"It's to good to see your energetic as ever, Donut." Derek greeted and took the container, setting his briefcase down in the process.

"Whatever." Donut answered and watched Derek open the box up, revealing a collapsible baton, a pair of contact lenses and a couple of wind-up mice. "Please treat this stuff with the utmost care."

"Of course."

Very carefully, he moved the first lense up to his eye and applied it. In retrospect, he probably should have asked for a mirror, but the thought didn't occur to him. The second lense was a similar story, with the only difference being it took a little less time than the first.

 _Analyzing…_

 **Logiamon**

 **Champion, Virus**

 **Speciality: Frost-Make**

 **.**

 **Derek: Well this is new.**

 **Sam: Indeed. These are digital analysis lenses, or DAL.**

 **Derek: These come from the Science Division, I presume?  
Sam: Of course. **

_Analysis complete._

Derek shifted his gaze back over to Sam as Rora watched on.

"Is there a way we can give Rora sight, sir?" the accountant whispered, only for Sam to sigh.  
"I wish I knew." Sam whispered as Derek focused on Donut.

Scanning...

 **Scorerermon**

 **Champion, Data**

 **Speciality: Gun Arts**

 **.**

 **Donut: I hate my analyzer entry.**

 **Rora: Why?  
Donut: Because it does absolutely nothing.**

 **Rora: Cool!**

 **Donut: You aren't listening at all, are you?**

Analysis complete.

Derek turned his attention to Sam and took a deep breath.

"Permission to test the wind-up mice through a sparring match between Rora and Donu, sir?" the accountant asked and stared towards the drill sergeant.

"Permission granted. Ready Rora for battle." Sam ordered and made a quick glance towards Donut, giving a nod.

"Bring it on." Donut whispered as Sam handed over a rifle. "You ready, Rora?"  
Rora nodded and Derek threw a mouse out, watching it make a high pitched noise. Somehow, this was enough to get Rora's focus to shift to Donut's face.

 **Gun Art: Scattershot!**

The scorerermon fired his gun off, watching as a v-shape formation of projectiles shot towards the ice naga.

 **Frost-Make: Shield!**

A thin wall of ice formed around Rora, protecting her somewhat from the gunfire.

 **Frost-Make: Shards!**

 **Gun Art: Full Auto!**

The 'shield' shattered, shooting out razor-sharp bits of ice towards the mage. As she did that, Donut switched the magazine on his gun to that of a drum and fired. He watched as the bullets shot out, seeming to fire in almost a stream-like shape towards the ice fragments. But, all that seemed to do was cancel both attacks out.

 **Gun Art: Bang!**

 **Frost-Make: Mist!**

Once more, Donut switched magazines, deciding to just shove a large object into the gun and fired. This time, a large bullet shot out, with the ice naga countering with a breath of chilled air. Which, was enough to slow it down and

While this all happened, the mouse made another high-pitched noise and Donut smashed his foot into it.

"Hey!" Derek shouted and Sam focused in on his partner, the sky seeming to darken as the drill sergeant did.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, SOLDIER?" Sam shouted as he seemed to grow in size, quickly towering over everyone while thunder boomed in the background. "THAT WAS RORA'S! IT WAS TO HELP WITH HER BLINDNESS!"

He then grabbed hold of Donut's head as his eyes seemed to lose their shine.

"Sam…" Donut whispered as Derek grabbed hold of his master, pulling him away at the last.

"Uncle Sam, sir." Derek added, watching his superior slowly return to his usual demeanor. The sky cleared up as the sound of thunder seemed to drift away. "You had one of your 'flashbacks, sergeant."

Sam took a deep breath and stared towards the ground, muttering something under his breath.

"I'm sorry, recon." he whispered as tears began to roll down his face. "I saw their faces, storming through the jungles, slaughtered by those damn bots…"

Both men took a deep breath and sighed. They and a couple others were some of the lucky ones, having managed to overcome the many trials and tribulations set up by the bot empire. But with it came the casualties of hundreds, possibly thousands of people died throughout the campaign. They ranged in a variety of ages, from newborn babies to the elderly. It didn't matter to whoever did the selection process. Possibly, the strain of limiting the amount of information following the worldwide release of 'The Motomiya Tapes' in the early 2000's.

"I doubt those evergreen people are doing much better." Sam whispered and took a deep breath. "Who promotes a dog to being a chosen?"

Rora gave him a confused glance as Donut did something similar.

"They're probably just rumors." Derek added as he returned his attention to the group. "Sam, do you want to come with Rora and I to the fabric store?"

Sam gave a nod and motioned for his partner to follow. They made their way through the quite straight forward streets of Pacific Heights, passing through what seemed like the capital of barber shops. Though, it was more of a haven to just get a quick cut than anything else.

"Hi Uncle Sam!"

"Good to see you, Sam!"

"Glad to see you're holding up, Uncle Sam!"

"Keep up the good work, Sam!"

Donut and Rora made a quick glance towards the drill sergeant, quite confused by what was even going on. So, they turned their attention to the buildings around him. Parts of it seemed familiar to them, like the seemingly eternal 'jams' of the recording studio and the exotic scent of fruit from the market. But for all that stuff,

"Okay…" Rora answered as her gaze focused on some sound she had heard. It sounded like a mix of metal scratching on more metal and a cat dying. Though, she wasn't quite sure where the sound was coming from, making it a fool's errand at best and an absolute nightmare at worst. But just as she heard it, the sound faded away.

For now, things seemed to be on the up and up for them. Already, at least two of the six group members had managed to gather together, leaving the whereabouts of the other four a bit of a mystery.

"People of Pacific Heights, how are you doing?" a voice called out, forcing most of our heroes to stare up towards the sky. There, a single man stood on a floating platform. Though, it looked to be the same one that Derek had kicked in the balls. "It's been a long time since our paths crossed with yours. Truly a shame, if you ask me. So, we're going to finish what we started!"

"Wonderful." Sam whispered as he pulled his phone out, proceeding to dial someone. "Cover me.."

"Yes sir!" the rest of the group answered and took a couple of steps away from the drill sergeant. But at the same time, close enough to intervene should something go wrong.

.

To the students that made up her kindergarten class, Lydia Ayers was a magician.

Maybe it was the way she seemed to have words, seeming to string them along a conversations with a sense of glee. She could untie most knots with the utmost ease and seemed to be able to keep her cool under the most stressful of situations.

Yet, Lydia knew otherwise.

"I understand why you called and all, but the answer is still no." the teacher whispered as her gaze focused on a picture frame…

* * *

Next Time: Do you believe in magic?


	3. Episode 3: A Very WTF Episode

I don't own digimon.

* * *

Episode 3

A Very WTF Episode

Always, the hardest thing about letting go of something is watching that very thing walk right back into your life.

For Lydia, it was that feeling of hollowness that seemed to echo throughout her body. She walked over to her desk and opened the bottom drawer.

Inside, was a regular digivice. It had seen little use in the last fifteen years, having gathered quite a coat of dust. Beside it, was a framed photo of her cradling a baby boy. She had actually looked quite happy in that picture, having actually had a nice day up to that point. Sadly, it would be one of the last for her.

"I'm sorry." she whispered and stared towards the device, the whole world beginning to swirl as the digivice seemed to grow.

"But are you really sorry?" the digivice 'answered', only for Lydia to stumble backwards. "If you were, would you be apologizing to me right now?"

Lydia didn't answer, choosing instead to just stand against the wall and stare towards the device.

"I was never was supposed to be in your hands, only his."

"Just leave me alone!" Lydia shouted and charged towards the desk. But all that managed to do was just knock the drawer out and give her a bruised knee. "Crap."

Thankfully, her t-shirt and jeans combo were enough to hide her idiotic choice for the moment, especially with the children soon to return for their next session of summer school lessons.

"Welcome back, class." the kindergarten teacher greeted, only for her students to just groan. "Come on now, it won't be bad."

Another groan erupted from the children as Lydia walked over to the board, grabbing a whiteboard marker.

"We'll start with simple addition." Lydia remarked and began to write out the first problem, not even noticing the loud bang that went off outside. "Julie, what is two plus two?"  
"Four."

"Correct." the teacher answered and wrote the answer on the board, only to following it up with a new problem. "Jimmy, what is twenty three plus forty five?"

There was no response.

"Jimmy?"

All she got was silence and static. Yet, she didn't turn around. Instead, she wrote out the answer to the problem.

"We know what you did, Miss Ayers." their voices chanted as Lydia wrote the next problem out. "You can not hide from our judgement."

The teacher turned around, finding the once filled desks empty and darkness returning to the room. She took a few deep breaths and sighed, only to pinch her cheek.

"Ow." Lydia whispered and returned her attention to the bottom desk drawer, pulling it open in a single motion.

The digivice was right where was she had left it, having been unmoved by her stunt from earlier. She breathed a sigh of relief, only to feel it get overridden by a sharp shooting pain all across her body.

"Did you really think you would go unpunished for your actions?"

Once more, her gaze fell upon the digivice, which was now sitting on the desk. She wasn't how the inanimate object, having been stuck in a drawer for some time.

"You can not run from faith, Lydia Ayers."

"Stop!" she screamed, only to get no response. Silence filled the room once more and her gaze focused on the briefcase. The teacher carefully made her way over to it, having quite a bit of trouble getting the simple latches open. It took slamming the container against the top of her desk to shatter the locks. "Oh, I understand now."

With the briefcase having been forced open, Lydia dumped the contents out. In this case, a metal rod. She picked it up and gave it a flick, watching it going from a plain and simple metal into some sort of tree branch imbued with green energy.

"Is this for me?"

While no response could be heard, Lydia gave a nod for some reason and picked the digivice up for some reason.

"They are here." the digivice 'announced' as it was stuffed into the teacher's pants pocket. "Do you wish to be forgiven for your sins?"

"Of course."

"Then go forth, my priestess."

After that was said, Lydia turned her attention to the desks as the students suddenly 'materialized' back into existence.

"Children, we're going to play duck duck goose." she explained and tapped her staff against the floor. "Quickly now!"

The children cautiously gathered in a circle, except for a green haired girl. She looked to be in her early teens, no older than twelve or thirteen. She was dressed quite casually, just a lime green tank top with a tight pair of shorts. A leather bracer hung on her right arm, holding within it a makeshift pulley system made from wood, vines and some sort of motor. Of course, that didn't explain why a large metal spike hung at the end of the vine. A satchel hung at her side, with a variety of flora from an unknown place hanging out. A pair of spiked hiking boots covered her feet, complementing her topaz eyes and the mess brownish black hair on her head.

"Duck, duck, duck…" Lydia announced as she went around the circle. "Goose."

The teacher pointed it towards some random person and gave them a slight tap, watching a red orb get pulled out of their body as a scream echoed throughout the building.

But before said object could be absorbed, a spike landed in Lydia's hand.

"Lydia, stop this at once." a voice announced as the girl from before zipped over and kicked Lydia in the chest. "This isn't you!"

"What do you know?" Lydia snarled and pulled the spike out, flinging it into the body of a nearby student. "You never had to face the horrors that mess brought about. Go ahead and claim otherwise, Thorn Lily."

With that, a shriek rang out and a large orangish red bird shot out of Thorn's bag, digging its talons into their opponent's right leg.

"Thanks, Adarnamon." Thorn whispered and released her grip on Lydia, giving her a swift kick and watched the teacher fall over. "I need your guy's help!"

The other children gave her a mix of confusion and uncertainty, but walked over anyway. For some reason, Thorn had these people pile up on Lydia while the one of the stragglers got a teacher.

"I'm sorry Lydia." the berserker whispered and sighed. "I wish that there was some other way."

With that, she too joined the pile...

* * *

Notes:

Been a while since we've had one of these.

Lydia technically is a digidestined, but at the same time isn't. It's complicated. Along with that, Thorn Lily is having the children restrain Lydia.

.

Next Time: All about Thorn Lily and the Digital World.


	4. Episode 4: Amid the Wastes

I don't own digimon.

* * *

Episode 4

Amid the Wastes

Leroy Jones was used to having long days.

When he was first hired by the then head scientist at the tender age of twenty-one, the man had made a big deal out of having a modern war hero and how his talents would be put to full use in the labs. No less than eleven minutes later, Leroy had to step in and prevent said head scientist from attempting to cross a dog with a lizard while dancing with a unicycle. Thinking back, it wasn't even that funny and probably should've served as a sign of things to come. And yet, he stayed on and worked as hard as possible. Even if all he was really doing for the last fifteen years was acting as their 'janitor'.

But now, as the head scientist, the wheels of change were marching onwards, with him making quick work firing the entire HR Department and greenlighting all the projects that would help. He had even coordinated his outfit, going with a plain lab coat and gray slacks with a pair of plain athletic shoes. Add in the tan skin, gray eyes and long black hair, one would think he was attempting to look far older than he actually was. Not that was the outcome he had in mind, but it would do for right now

"Now where are you, Gabe?" the scientist whispered as he scanned the area, occasionally making a quick glance to both his digivice and the briefcase in the opposite hand. "I know you're here."

The scientist took a deep breath and slipped his digivice into his pocket, only to pull out what appeared to be an iPod nano. While it was sort of a last resort in this situation, he couldn't trust his partner to find him before the bots did.

"Here goes nothing."

Leroy pressed 'play' on the device, slipping ear plugs on as a precaution. What appeared to be to be a bunch of men screaming absolute gibberish at full blast came forth from the audio device and violated a couple laws related to noise level and disturbing the peace. He would just pay the fines if they came up. Right now, the sudden return of the Bot Empire weighed heavily on his mind. He had hoped that their beatdown the first time around would be more than enough to get the message. But it seemed that their creator, had somehow managed to leave something for them before he fell to the digidestined of courage a couple of years ago. It was probably that underaged girl of a wife that gave the command. While he would pity the parents, such acts of evil couldn't go unpunished.

Yet as he stood in this junkyard, he felt like he was in his twenties again. Those were the days. Where it was the residents of a single town against an entire kingdom intent on wiping them off the map. A haven for insane and crazy ideas to repel the bots seem to form during the war, with him attempting to be at the forefront to the best of his abilities.

But of all those, he and fix others were chosen as champions within this war. It was the sort of thing one expected to see in an anime.

Almost on cue, his gaze passed over a DVD case for Digimon Adventure. He gave it a quick stomp, just enough to make sure that the contents inside were ruined.

"Come on out, Gabe!" Leroy announced, finding his shout just barely hearable against the rock music. "Contrary to popular believe, I am not in the mood to play hide and seek. Hobearmon!"

He was about to head onwards, only for his gaze focused on what appeared to be a plate with a piece of apple pie on it. He picked the plate up and gave it a quick examination. At first glance, the piece of pie seemed quite normal, almost boring by some standards. But on much closer inspection, a sheer amount of time had looked to have gone into this dish, from the picking of the apples to the baking of this particular slice.

Leroy then silenced the iPod and picked the plate up. While he would have minded a fork, he was willing to eat it with his... bare hands.

"You seriously had to make that pun, didn't you?"

Leroy turned around, finding a familiar bear digimon standing before him. Though, he was dressed in what appeared to be an avenged sevenfold hoodie with the sleeves cut off and displaying what appeared to a circle of chain around a metal plaque with a skull. A pair of black pants with all sorts of rips covered his bottom half, seeming to go well with the bear-sized black hiking boots. Finishing off this unique look, was some black 'fur' covering his eye.

"There you are." Leroy remarked and took a deep breath. "What are you doing in a junkyard of all places?"

Gabe did not answer, choosing instead to point towards the far left corner of the area.

"So I'm guessing you were followed?"

Gabe gave a nod, only for Leroy to crack a smile and pull his briefcase up.

"You sure know how to spoil me." Gabe mumbled as Leroy handed the briefcase over, only to pull a rod out. He gave it a flick and watched it shift into a full-size crossbow. "Let's get to it, shall we?"

Leroy gave a nod as what appeared to be the first group of bots approached, choosing to do their best impressions of kung fu stances. While they did that, Gabe opened the briefcase and pulled a frying pan out.

 **Flambe!**

The metal pan was engulfed in flames, with Gabe deciding to throw some olive oil and cloves.

"Hot enough for you?" the bear digimon inquired and swung it at the bots, watching the flames travel across them. "It isn't? Then let's add some wine to it?"

Gabe then pulled a bottle of red wine out and added it to the pan. The flames became much more noticeable now, seeming more eager to bounce all about in this dance of theirs.

"Tell your boss that Pacific Heights will not fall to the likes of you." Leroy threatened and fired his crossbow off. "Or do we have to keep going…"  
After saying that, Leroy's phone began to ring.

"This is Private Medic Leroy Jones." Leroy greeted, almost as if he had already knew who would call. "Of course. I just found Gabe and planning to meet up with you guys. While I haven't heard anything from Lydia or Thorn Lily, I suspect they'll show up eventually."

"Are you sure? Fine, I'll give 'them' a call…"

* * *

Notes:

While not the original chapter planned, I like how this turned out. But I wonder who Uncle Sam has in mind. I feel like I've seen that next time quote before. But where, exactly?

.

Next time: Let there be demons...


End file.
